


heal me once, i'll save you twice

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fights, Healing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:00:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22781392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Abyss falls under siege, the new professor steps up to defend it. Unfortunately for Yuri, the battle is long, and she is stubborn.-Contains spoilers for the Cindered Shadows DLC.CW: Graphic depictions of murder within the context of battle, graphic descriptions of wounds.
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 11
Kudos: 262





	heal me once, i'll save you twice

Amid the chaos of the arena’s siege, Claude took an arrow to the gut and slumped against his wyvern. There was a miscalculation on Edelgard's side, resulting in a particularly stealthy archer taking advantage of the shadows after he evaded a slow axe swing. The professor was quick on the draw, but noticed just a little too late; the archer barely managed to loosen his arrow before she segmented her glowing sword and whipped it through his chest. He screamed and dropped his bow in favour of clawing at his gaping torso, as if he could knit his flesh back together with his fingernails. Byleth didn’t even flinch as she stormed towards him and plunged a dagger into his neck. Some of Jeralt’s men had the audacity to claim she’d gone soft since picking up Rhea’s teaching gig - they were dead wrong - if anything, she’d only grown harder, tougher. She’d do anything to protect her students. 

The archer slumped to the grimy cobbled floor, already growing cold. She kicked his body down the arena stairs.

“He needs medical attention, now!” Hilda hollered from Claude’s side. She dragged him off his grounded wyvern and pressed her hands against his stomach in a poor attempt at staunching the wound. Linhardt staggered over, looking pale and green after knocking a woman off her pegasus. She hit the ground with a sickening thud. He managed to keep his composure enough to gather soft wisps of golden light in his gloved hands. 

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, trying to temper the temor in his voice. "Stay with me."

All the while, Byleth and Dimitri fought like demons; Edelgard stood as tall and proud as a sentinel by Claude’s wyvern. From the back, Ashe knocked back arrows and picked off any stragglers. 

Yuri was mostly out of magic, but his sword remained sharp. He and the rest of his troupe worked around the professor and her students, providing interference and backing them up when necessary. Balthus stuck with Hilda, despite how she’d bested him earlier in the night, loudly proclaiming something about defending Holst’s little sister with his life- she brushed him off and barked on about how he should be helping Claude. Constance stuck closer to ground level after Claude’s injury, but provided air cover when possible, and Hapi made quick work of any armoured foes who were stupid enough to underestimate the superior range of her magic. 

A loud clanking from the back of the arena cut above the chaos of battle like a scythe. There, standing at the top of the stairs was a man dressed head-to-toe in black armour, sitting atop a formidable warhorse, hitting his lance against his shield. His skull-shaped mask muffled and distorted his bellowing voice. He raised a clawed gauntlet at the professor and declared something inane about crossing blades for the final time. 

“Protect our primary forces,” the professor instructed Dimitri. She sheathed her sword. “I’ll clear a path and hold him off. Protect Claude, above all else- he can’t take another hit!” 

“But professor-” Dimitri protested, before a hulking man with an axe took advantage of his distraction and aimed for a wide swing towards his horse’s neck. The prince caught his blade just in time and parried. 

True to her word, Byleth broke off from their current position and staggered down the stairs, delving into the chaos of the fighting pit. The bulk of the enemy’s cavalry and armoured units were struggling across to get into the thick of the fight; they all seemed to halt at once as soon as Byleth entered the fray, changing targets for something closer and much more isolated. 

“You’ll get yourself killed!” Yuri called from the lip of the arena. A mage slung a fireball at his feet, thinking him easy picking given his lapse in awareness, but he danced away like he knew it was coming. He sprang towards them and cleaved his sword through their shoulder, before he leapt down the stairs three at a time, leaving them to bleed out on the dirty floor. 

He didn’t like odds he couldn’t foresee, and he didn’t like losing either. The battle seemed to be going in their favour, but the reveal of the enemy commander had him on edge. He could still taste blood on his tongue from a brawler who'd managed to get a lucky hit in. It only made him feel worse.

In the thick of the fight, the professor was practically dogpiled: two armoured knights flanked her on either side, backed up by a scrawny myrmidon. They both swung their lances - one high, and one low - aiming to knock her to the ground. She dropped low, palms flat on the ground, twisting and rolling out of the way as one of the knights attempted to stomp on her head. Messy, evasive fighting that shouldn’t have worked in her favour. 

She got back to her feet and threw herself under the arc of a lance, hurtling towards the myrmidon. He was taken aback and stumbled. She fell on top of him and drove her bloody dagger into his skull. 

The knights took her preoccupation as an opening. They reared back and swung, aiming to skewer her on two fronts. Yuri had a different plan. He clicked his fingers and plucked the professor out of thin air, trading their places in the blink of an eye. Finding himself above the lifeless corpse of Byleth’s most recent victory, he let his instincts guide him: jumping high, he cleared the lances, and caught one of the knights with his sword on the backswing. He snagged against an opening in their helmet and cleaved downwards, letting gravity do the work for him. 

The second knight was more of a challenge. He’d already levelled the playing field, and now there was nothing to distract either of them from tearing the other apart. He gathered up the final dregs of his offensive magic, preparing to drain the knight of his spirit. Light crackled between his fingers and he twisted it together, pulled it back- just as he was about it let it go, the sword of the creator burst from the knight’s breastplate. 

“Don’t put yourself in danger for my sake!” Byleth hissed. She braced a boot against the man’s back, kicking him off the sword. “Get back!” 

Yuri straightened himself, releasing tension coiled in his hand. The magic pooled back into his veins. “With all due respect,” he started, lips curling into a snarl, “you’re not my commander, professor.” 

She puffed out her chest and reeled back. Yuri raised his sword on instinct. Her dagger whipped past his ear as he jumped to the left; he didn’t have to look back to hear the death throes of a lancer choking on their own blood. “You’re welcome.” She jeered, before turning her back on him, thundering single-mindedly to her goal: the skull-masked man. 

“Why do I bother?” Yuri chided himself. “Damn surface dwellers.” 

He cast a glance over his shoulder to find Dimitri and Hilda picking off the last of the infantry. Balthus had Claude slung over his shoulders. They looked to be managing just fine. 

Byleth more or less cleared a path to the skull-masked man- Yuri picked off the remaining swordsmen who jumped in his way. He finished up as quickly as possible, but by the time he reached the professor she’d already triumphed. The horseman called off his attack and signalled a retreat: his few remaining men fell back. Yuri whilsted loud and shrill through gloved fingers, and some of his men who’d been waiting as back up gave chase through the narrow passageways to the surface. 

The professor was breathing heavily, leaning on her knees. The sword of the creator was sheathed once more. Yuri struggled to muster the remnants of his dwindled healing magic, but he managed. 

“Hold still.” He instructed, making himself known as he placed his hands over the professor’s shoulders. 

She whirled around, twisting out of his grip. Planting a hand firmly against his chest, she drew herself back up to her full height, holding onto her stomach with the other arm. “M’fine.” She mumbled, pushing him away. “Go help the others.”

“Stubborn, aren’t you?” Yuri mused, frowning. “I don’t think so. We’re heading to the infirmary as soon as we’re given the all-clear from my scout. Reigan over there is just fine- Balthus has him. He's in good hands. Let me heal you.” 

Byleth groaned, stumbling into him a little. “It’s nothing.” She insisted. “Just a scratch.” 

Yuri didn’t argue, but redoubled his efforts when he caught sight of the blood seeping through her swordmaster robes. He drained the last of his magic in stitching the wound back together. At the very least, her breathing sounded less ragged. When Yuri’s scout signalled their victory, he pulled Byleth’s arm over his shoulder and bore some of her weight during the trek to the infirmary. 

* * *

Edelgard had a concussion. Claude was out for one day and two nights, recovering from a very close call. Ashe broke two fingers on his non-dominant hand. Byleth just needed some bedrest. During all the commotion of recovering from battle, one of Seteth’s men ventured down into Abyss in search of Byleth and the missing students. Dimitri returned to the surface with him, under strict orders from Yuri to put the church’s concerns at rest without dragging them down into Abyss. They had important work to do, after all, and unwarranted supervision from the church would only hinder their already gutted schedule. 

Still, their recovery time allowed for some peace of mind. Clarity in the eye of the storm. And so Yuri found himself by Byleth’s bedside, armed to the teeth with questions and interrogations for Garreg Mach’s newest (and presumably youngest) professor. 

He knocked at her door before entering. She called for him to enter, so he took a seat at her side, looking over her bandaged shoulder. “How are you feeling?” He asked, quite monotone for someone trying to show concern. 

“Never better.” Byleth replied, equally blunt and impassive. She glanced over him with a blank look. 

“Constance said Aelfric introduced himself to you earlier. Came by and offered his thanks for leading the charge against our attackers.” Yuri continued, leaning back against his chair with one leg crossed over the other. “Admirable stuff, after all. Though, you _did_ almost get yourself killed.” 

“So did you.” Byleth countered easily, and the blank look washed off her face. She looked more unimpressed than anything else. “For my sake, as well. You acted like a true leader, I suppose. But it was my job to protect my students from the Death Knight- that includes you and your people, for as long as we’re down here.”

Yuri scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Us?” He blanched. “We’re hardly yours to protect or command. I appreciate your concern- Byleth, wasn’t it? But it’s hardly necessary.” 

Byleth wasn’t fazed. She didn’t even bat an eyelash as he feigned to misplace her name. “You’re a swordsman, too.” She said, rolling her uninjured shoulder. “You know how it is. We should take the hits because we’re barely hit to begin with. The Death Knight isn’t a character you want frequenting the Abyss, so I drove him out as quickly as I could.” 

There was no use in arguing with someone who wasn’t willing to hear out his case, so Yuri shrugged and folded his arms. “Sure, sure. I suppose you’re in this for the long run, anyway.” He decided, not entirely unhappily. He was still weary of what these newcomers could possibly want with his people, but perhaps they could help in ways grander than they knew. “I still need to properly judge your character. Of all the people my scouts have surveyed up top, you’re the one they struggled to find information on the most. But Aelfric knew your parents, so he trusts you at the very least.” 

Byleth looked thoughtful. “Dimitri is handling Seteth and the church. We’ll stay for as long as you need us.” And then she smiled, for the first time since their meeting- it was a small, almost delicate- like she wasn’t sure, or didn’t smile much at all to begin with- it stirred up something strange in Yuri’s chest. “Thanks for the Recover, back in the arena. I needed that more than I thought.” 

Yuri laughed, though it was mostly hollow and devoid of genuine humour. “Please, you were spilling your guts out back there. And not in the way I’d want you to, either. Feel free to tell me any and all of your secrets, just don’t get disemboweled by any more masked knights.”

Byleth settled back into her pillows. “I still won.” She sulked, and Yuri quietly wondered to himself why his men had first reported back to him saying that the new professor was an emotionless blank slate of a woman. She seemed to telegraph her emotions in a more subtle way than the average person might, but he was good at reading others. She seemed a little repressed, more than anything, but it was hardly anything to worry about. 

“I suppose you did.” He conceded, rising from his chair. He stepped closer to her bed and ghosted the back of his hand over her forehead, in a mockery of his own bedside manner. “I hope you realise, whilst I hate owing favours, I’m never opposed to cashing in on those indebted to me. And since I healed you up, I guess this means you owe me.” His tone dropped low, dipping into a dangerous territory reserved only for threats and promises. Turning on his charm was as easy as snapping his fingers. The mild intrigue that bubbled steadily in his chest was something different entirely. 

Byleth didn’t rise to his goading. “Here for as long as you need me, didn’t I just say?” She closed her eyes and yawned, turning her face away from him. He was shocked by her vulnerability in that moment- it spoke volumes about how comfortable she felt in the Abyss, around him, and about her own confidence and skill given her weakened state- she still wasn’t phased. Yuri had a weakness for genuinely well-meaning people. Attractive, well-meaning people with enough strength in their bones to level entire battalions, with an easy confidence, and a sweet smile. She even seemed impervious to his flirting and antagonisms. 

Yuri recoiled sharply, as if burned, and bid her farewell. He rushed himself out of the room and leant back against the door. 

Goddess, if he made it out of this alive, he was well and truly fucked.

**Author's Note:**

> idk?? i just wanted to write a fight scene? and slow burn yuri/byleth is my jam already aahh
> 
> as always, kudos and comments are appreciated!! thank uu 
> 
> (unbeta'd)


End file.
